1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to electronic displays, and, more particularly, to a method, apparatus, and system for providing improved visibility of a pointer relating to the display.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been various advancements in the area of document creation, image creation and capture technology, and processing them in a computer system. Image creation and capture technology includes creating images and/or documents using various applications and/or capturing images processed by cameras and scanners. Generally, images are created or downloaded onto a computer, such as a Macintosh® computer system, and a user may browse through the various images captured by the camera or the scanner. The user may use a pointer or a cursor to perform various tasks associated with manipulating the documents or images, as well as to perform administrative functions relating to various files associated with the documents or images.
There have also been various advancements in communications between computer systems. Networks, such as the Internet, intranets, or other private or public networks, are ubiquitous. In fact, many computers are connected to one or more networks at the same time. For example, a business may have hundreds or even thousands of computers coupled to its own private network, which was, at least initially, used primarily for storage and exchange of computer files. At least some of these same business computers may also be coupled to the internet. Further, with the development of wireless devices, ad hoc networks may also be formed with properly configured portable devices. Even telephonic devices, such as cellular phones, pagers, and the like, may be coupled to one or more of these networks. A user may control various computers and displays using the network computers.
When using a computer or a control system that includes a display device, a user may spend a significant amount of time analyzing the content displayed on a computer screen, or other points of interest around a work area. In other words, when a user works with a computer or a control system that interfaces with a display, the user generally performs other tasks that may not include the moving of a pointer or a cursor on the display. The pointer may relate to a mouse pointer or a pen pointer. Therefore, after a certain period of time, the user may lose track of the cursor. This is made more problematic when a user operates a system with a plurality of displays. Often, stock analysis analyst, engineers, legal personnel, doctors, and other professionals utilize large computer screens and sometimes a plurality of computer screens or displays. When analyzing data content in the various screens, the operator may lose track of a mouse pointer or a cursor.
One of the problems associated with the state-of-the-art includes the fact that the cursor associated with a mouse or other input devices is small relative to the display screen and other objects displayed on the screen. For example, many cursors are formed from a set of 16×16 pixels. Users often lose track of the cursor when not using it for a period of time.
Furthermore, this is compounded by the problem that in some cases, the human eye is relatively insensitive to changes in movement of small objects in a relatively large field. Not being able to quickly locate the cursor may lead to inefficiency in the use of a computer or a control system. A quick assessment of the location of the cursor is desirable to react quickly to various events that a user may perceive. Additionally, a certain amount of frustration may develop as a result of a delay in locating the cursor, which may delay the user from continuing a task. As display screens become larger and larger and as additional display screens are used for a particular task, a user will generally find it more difficult to quickly decipher the location of a cursor to carry out a particular task. This problem may be exacerbated by the fact that many users now use a plurality of display devices for a particular computer.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing, one or more of the problems set forth above.